TVA may Import Wind Power from Texas, Oklahoma

The developers of one of America's biggest wind power transmission lines hope to bring wind energy from Oklahoma and Texas to the Tennessee Valley over a 700-mile transmission line.

Developers have spent the past six years planning and trying to get regulatory approval for the $2 billion project, but it's expected to take at least another three or four years to get approval and for construction. And it may be another decade before the Tennessee Valley Authority buys the wind-generated power.

TVA's draft Integrated Resource Plan for the next 20 years states that under most scenarios TVA would benefit by importing 1,750 megawatts of wind power from Texas and Oklahoma, or half of the power that Clean Line Energy LLC wants to bring to the Tennessee Valley.

Prospective wind power generators in Texas and Oklahoma have offered a total of more than 15,000 megawatts of electricity generation for Clean Line Energy -- or nearly four times as much as what is planned for the 4,000-megawatt transmission line.

"The wind industry has gotten quite mature and is better able to capture wind power to maximize energy output," he said. "We think in today's' market we can do that for under 5 cents per kilowatthour, which we think will be the cheapest renewables you can get and is a very interesting option for TVA."

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